Gudrid goes on a Year Walk
by stingingcake
Summary: A Year Walk is a Swedish tradition of seeing into your future. I got the idea from the video game Year Walk and decided to use it as a means for Gudrid and Thorfinn to meet before he goes through Farmland Saga. idk, was fun to write. Gudfinn. GudridxThorfinn
1. Chapter 1

Thorfinn woke up in a wide barren plane. As he looked out, he saw it was a cliff that overlooked the ocean. The harsh scenery reminded him of Iceland and the thought brought him some comfort, but that was before he realized he didn't recognize where he was. In fact, he didn't even know how he'd gotten there.

Last he remembered, he'd laid down to sleep while the rest of Askeladd's band had been partying for some reason. Maybe this was some sort of joke they were playing on him. Maybe they just abandoned him. He felt for his knives and found them still on his belt.

Thorfinn let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't defenseless at least.

"I knew it!" a voice shouted, making Thorfinn start and grab his knives.

Turning towards the voice, he could make a figure out from the moonlight. As the figure drew closer, he realized it was a girl. The girl showed no fear or apprehension at approaching a stranger in the middle of the night. Perhaps she was mad.

"Hello?" she called, trying to grab his attention.

Thorfinn didn't respond, but he also didn't move away. She finally drew close enough that they could see each other's face. At that, they took a moment to observe the other.

Her hair was dark and pulled into two braids. The girl's face was flushed from her exertion to get up the hill, and probably navigate the area in general. She was nearly the same height as him, but he would've guessed she was younger. Her face then broke into a grin.

"I knew it," she repeated, "I knew the first two were a mistake!"

What in the world was she talking about?

"I'm Gudrid," she introduced, holding out a hand.

Thorfinn looked at her hand, then back up at her.

"Where are we?" he asked.

She looked confused, but not as confused as he would've thought appropriate.

"You're in Greenland," she explained almost nonchalantly.

Greenland? That was impossible. Not unless he could cross a few seas in a few hours.

"Have you been to Greenland before?" Gudrid asked.

He shook his head.

She lit up. "Where are you from then?"

After mulling it over a bit, he answered, "I was born in Iceland."

"Iceland…" she trailed off dreamily. Was there something wrong with her? Seriously? Who would want to go to Iceland? The only reason Thorfinn wanted to go back was for his mother and sister, but that of course would be after he killed Askeladd.

"Wait," she paused, "Born? So you aren't on Iceland right now?"

Technically he was in Greenland at the moment. That probably wasn't the answer she was looking for, though.

"I am… I was in Denmark."

"Denmark!" The sparkle in her eyes intensified. "Do you live there?"

"No." he took his hand off of his knife finally; she obviously wasn't a threat. "I… I travel."

Her brows furrowed. "Are you a merchant then?" she asked.

"No."

She brought her hand up to her chin in thought and took in his appearance again. She gasped.

"Are you a thrall?"

Thorfinn drew back in disgust, too offended to reply right away.

"It's okay if you are!" she said quickly, probably misinterpreting his reaction, "My first crush was a thrall actually."

"I'm not a thrall," he practically sneered.

His tone of voice set her off, and she put her hands on her hips. "Well, maybe if you bathed more often you wouldn't look like one!"

"I'm a warrior," he declared with as much pride as he had.

She shrunk away. "Warrior? Like a mercenary?" she asked, voice trembling. Finally she responded to something normally, even if she wasn't totally right. "Like someone who goes viking?"

"I'm not a mercenary," he denied. Sure he ran with a mercenary band, but those monsters weren't warriors, not most of them at least.

"How can you be a warrior if you aren't a mercenary?" she asked, albeit rhetorically, "You're too young to be a soldier."

"How would you know?"

"I wouldn't." Her smile returned, "Well, I'm glad my future husband won't be a mercenary."

Husband?

His confusion must've shown on his face, as Gudrid explained, "Have you ever heard of a Year Walk?"

Thorfinn shook his head.

"It's this thing Leif told us all about when he last came home. Basically, in the east, there's a tradition where if you go into the woods alone at midnight on the new year you'll see who you marry!"

It was a lot of information to grasp, and Thorfinn had been caught up on the first part.

"So I thought," she continued, "Hey, I'll do that even though we don't have any forests. But I figure the wilds are still the wilds, y'know. And so here we are!"

"Leif? As in Leif Erikson?" he finally asked.

"Yeah. Why? Do you know him?"

"He was my father's friend."

"Maybe he's who introduces us." She seemed pleased by the idea.

"I doubt that."

"The first man I saw tonight was his brother actually," Gudrid said, ignoring THorfinn's comment. "I don't think he was a part of the Year Walk because he just walked by and ignored me."

Unbegotten, Thorfinn's thoughts went to how old Leif was. "Isn't' he a bit old?"

"Yes," she said, "Although he's waaay younger than Leif, he's still an adult. Plus all he cares about is adventure…" she trailed off, "Not that adventure is bad, but I wish I could go too."

"Why don't you?" he asked.

"You think I haven't tried?" She started listing on her fingers. "Hid in a barrel, hid in a crate, disguised myself, tried to steal a boat _three times_."

"Probably for the best. The world is dangerous."

"Who are you to decide that for me?" she challenged, "The second man I saw had scary chains and chased me, I ran away just fine."

Ran away? Thorfinn couldn't help but scoff at that. However, he still felt like she needed a dose of reality. "If I didn't have my quest I wouldn't want to be where I am. These people are wicked."

"Your quest?" she perked up, completely missing the point. "What's that?"

Thorfinn sighed. He wasn't sure why he was entertaining this girl, but still, he found himself answering her questions. "I'm avenging my father."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said sympathetically, if not awkwardly, "That he's dead, I mean. And that you have to avenge him. Weregild not enough?"

"We never were given weregild, it wasn't an honorable killing."

"That blows."

He turned away from her kind expression. "Whatever."

After a few moments of quiet, she asked suddenly, "What's your name?"

"Huh?"

Her emotional changes were giving him whiplash.

"I told you my name, but you never told me yours."

Finding some semblance of composure, Thorfinn answered, "I'm Thorfinn."

"Good to meet you."

She held out her hand again. This time he shook it. She smiled again, only for it to drop slowly. "Wait, are you Thorfinn son of Thors?"

Thorfinn nodded.

"You're who Leif is looking for!"

"Leif is looking for me?"

"Yeah! He's been kind of obsessed with bringing you back. He blames himself for losing you and…" Her frown deepened. "He's sad now."

Thorfinn felt his heart clench. No. There was no time for that. Not until Askeladd was dead.

"I'll come back after I get my revenge," he said coldly, "It's none of his business anyways."

That didn't convince her, but she still let it go.

"I can't imagine you come here when we get married, so I must leave for Iceland or somewhere." Gudrid looked out across the ocean. "Iceland sounds better than Greenland, but it also seems like more of the same." She turned toward him again, making fierce eye contact. "Do you wanna know where I really want to go? It's somewhere far away. Somewhere not here."

Thorfinn had a feeling he knew where she was talking about.

"I think I want to go there too."

"Leif told you about that?" she asked.

"I think he tells anyone that'll listen."

"It's only because it's such a wonderful story!" she gushed, then averting her eyes from his, finally showed any sense of embarrassment, "Maybe we'll go to Vinland together."

She said it with such hope, it almost made Thorfinn want to hope. To think about something beyond his revenge.

"Maybe," he said softly.

Before anymore could be said, a voice called in the distance. By the second yell it was clear who ever it was was calling for Gudrid.

The moment broken, Gudrid threw her head back and groaned. "I'm going to get in soo much trouble." Still she lingered. She looked to him again and said, "I hope we meet again." she took a few steps before pausing and saying, "And I hope you find peace."

She then waved and Thorfinn awkwardly waved back. He kept waving as her form disappeared out of view.

He then noticed the world began to grow fuzzy. Slowly, it all faded to white.

…

Thorfinn woke up to the crow of a rooster. It was the first day of the new year and he wondered why he knew that. A dream started to surface in his memories and it only brought more questions to his mind.

For one, it wasn't a nightmare. It didn't even end in a nightmare. And he didn't know anyone in it, there was just that girl who thought they would get married in the future.

Thorfinn snorted. Him, married? He couldn't see it. Why would he dream about such a thing?

Then he became nervous. Could it mean something? Was it important? He almost wanted to ask someone about it, but didn't dare. He's heard about other men's dreams involving women, and this one shared no simulatrities, well, save there being a girl in it. Thorfinn didn't want to deal with the teasing and taunting that would inevitably follow.

He figured Askeladd would probably know, but Thorfinn wouldn't trust that rat bastard with anything. Besides, he doubted Askeladd would give him a straight answer even if he did know.

His mind went to Leif. Leif would know. He'd tease him for sure, but it would be the kind type. The type that just showed he cared.

His father would've known.

Thorfinn shook his head as if to shake the thoughts away. It didn't matter. It didn't matter who that girl was, or why he even had a dream like that in the first place. All that did matter was honing his skills so he could avenge his father.

He got up to go train.


	2. More of this Dream Nonsense

He appeared in the dream world again, on a beach on a faraway island called Greenland. Sitting there waiting for him was the girl he would talk to sometimes. She was older now than when he had first met her. He knew for sure now that she was at least a few years younger than him, but already she probably looked older. Girls were like that often apparently.

Thorfinn couldn't remember when the dreams had started. He knew once he was in them, but before and after it was a blank. At random times he would be reminded of something from them, a sound or smell would make him start, that itself being odd because he rarely could smell in his dreams.

Her name was Gudrid and she was still convinced she would marry him. Thorfinn thought her a little weird, well, really weird for wanting to marry him, but she was nice. It was a true, naive niceness that he hadn't been around in a long while. The only reason he didn't distance himself from her now was because he figured she was either far enough away that he couldn't bring her any harm, or she was just a figure of his imagination.

Gudrid's eyes were downcast, not smiling like they normally did. She didn't stand up to greet him either. Just sat on a rock in the sand and drew lines with a stick.

He didn't know why it bothered him so much, and found himself asking, "Another failed stoing away?"

She glanced up and then back at her drawing, not saying anything. This was weird, normally he was the one who brooded, usually after losing in a duel to Askeladd. He wasn't used to being the comforting one. Was he going to be the comforting one? Was he really going to do that? She had listened to him, really listened to him after a bad loss, so it was only fair he did the same, right?

He still figured she was a figment of his imagination, as who'd ever heard of sharing dreams? And if she was real he'd deny he'd said any of it. He knew it wasn't fair to her, she was so young, and even as young as he was, he was more worldly than her. He'd seen things no one of any age should. And even though she didn't understand it, she tried to comfort him. He did owe her.

He stayed quiet, hoping she would take it as invitation to speak, but she stayed decidedly silent. Finally, he sighed and sat down on a rock next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

At that she burst into tears. Thorfinn didn't know what to do. He wanted to yell at her to stop. That it was making him uncomfortable, but she had certainly withstood his crying, so again, it wouldn't be fair. He couldn't imagine there was much in her life that was that bad. Maybe a favorite sheep had died or something.

Eventually, she choked out, "I'm getting married."

Married?

"Aren't you a little young?" he finally asked when she didn't elaborate. She was after all, only 13 going on 14. He knew girls generally got married younger than boys did, but by the looks of her she didn't seem old enough even for that. Still more girl than woman.

"It won't be for a few years." Her sobs were intermittent now, the tears still freely flowing down her face. "But I heard them talking."

"If it's not for a few years, why do you care?" he asked. He certainly didn't care about a few years in the future, anything could happen between the present and then.

"Because, because–" She threw up her hands. "You wouldn't get it."

He wouldn't.

"I'm wondering if I did something wrong with my year walk. They're talking about me marrying Leif's brother."

"I thought you liked Leif's brother." Thorfinn was growing tired of this.

"I do! I just… I don't know. I don't want to marry him." She looked to him, eyes shining and said, "I want to marry you!"

"Then you're an idiot," he spat out.

Surprisingly she didn't start crying again. Gudrid muttered, "I probably am." Louder she said, "I mean, you're just some boy who doesn't even bathe regularly and is all hung up on some guy that you're never going to kill! There's no reason for me to like you!"

"You take that back!" he said, his goat got at the mention of Askeladd.

"I won't! You'll never kill him because you don't even know what you want!"

What was she talking about? Thorfinn felt his anger growing.

"And how do you know what I want? You think you know me? You're just some pathetic girl from this frozen hell hole at the edge of the world! What do you know!"

"You're lost!" She narrowed her eyes.

He wasn't. He couldn't be. She wasn't lying though. Before she could say more, the world started to fade out, and before he knew it the cold splash of water awoke him.

He was up with a start, cursing and nearing stabbing the men who had decided to play this prank. He was in a foul mood, even more so than normal, and that was saying something.

"Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" someone taunted.

Thorfinn scowled and brushed past them. He was going to train. He trained for a few hours, until his stomach couldn't be ignored and he reluctantly went to the camp. There was some stew and bread, not much, but enough to keep him from starving to death. It was as he was grabbing a bowl that a teasing voice got to him.

"So… Who's Gudrid?" It was Askeladd, lounging with his hands behind his head. His eyes were closed, but Thorfinn could still feel the focus he exuded.

Thorfinn scowled and tried to keep on walking. He didn't know any Gudrids, despite how familiar the name sounded. He tried to hurry up, but the man in charge of dishing out the stew was taking his sweet time.

"If it's some girl you took a fancy to, you might as well do something about it or forget her."

Where was this advice coming from? Thorfinn didn't care about girls. He tore into the stale bread. Speaking of women, at least when there were women around there was fresh bread.

"Because, I can't have you distracted, how else are you going to kill me? If you want to go get married I guess you are getting to that age…" Askeladd trailed off, "Then again, you are a viking you probably just took her by–"

"Shut up." Thorfinn spat out with as much venom as he could. He was a warrior, noble, honorable, not… a dog. His face was red with anger and probably embarrassment too if he was being honest.

"Struck a nerve then, so she must be someone special," he continued, missing the point on purpose, "If that's the case shouldn't you go and be noble, try and protect her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Finally with his soup, Thorfinn stormed off, ignoring the laughs behind him.

What did Askeladd know, talking to him about that? To his knowledge, Askeladd had never been married, so why was he taking such an interest in his affairs? Where'd he even get the name Gudrid any ways? He sat under a tree away from the rest of the band and ate angrily. He burnt his tongue on the soup. It made him more angry.

He practiced more once he was done eating, and did so until it was night. By the time the sun skimmed the horizon he heard excited shouts. He slunk back into camp, hoping to avoid any more words about girls and his intentions, to see a deer being hauled in. The deer was healthy looking, save for the fact it was dead, and Thorfinn decided he was definitely going to dive into the fray to get some meat.

They were going on a raid soon, so it would be one of their last meals at the campsite, and Thorfinn was glad to be on the move again.

With the deer butchered and roasting, he waited impatiently. Across the fire sat Askeladd and Bjorn, but Thorfinn ignored them in favor of a hot meal.

…

"So, you really think that boy got some?" Bjorn asked, "I guess he's probably getting to that age."

"He was definitely moaning some girl's name, could just be a dream on his part."

"You're worried about him?"

Askeladd chuckled. "No, but he could be different if he chose to be. He's near useless the way he is now, maybe if he had something besides himself…" He shook his head. "But I'm giving him too much credit."

Said boy shot him a glare from where he sat waiting for the venison to cook.

Yup, Askeladd was giving him much too much credit, he was too immature to think to the future. He pitied the girl that would ever get involved with such a foolish boy.


	3. part 3

He hadn't been here in a long time. So long, he nearly had forgotten what it was all about. It'd been years since that last one and he didn't really remember that time in his life clearly. No, he didn't want to remember. She approached him now a young woman, though with an air of naivety still.

"Been a while," she called to him, "You can grow whiskers now."

His hand automatically went to the scruff on his face. It was a bit annoying, but it wasn't like he had a razor. She'd changed too, but Thorfinn didn't think it was probably proper to comment exactly how she had changed.

"Yeah, I'd apologise for my appearance, but I didn't know we'd be meeting."

"Now who are you and what have you done with Thorfinn?" she asked, only half joking, "You've grown manners?"

"I guess so." How rude had he been to her in the past? He felt some degree of embarrassment, but couldn't think of specifics to apologise for.

"So did you do it?" She looked at him closer. They were still close to eye to eye.

"Do what?"

"Kill that guy," she said, "You know, the one you vowed revenge on."

Thorfinn deflated. Negative emotions ripped at him, and he answered, "I didn't."

She frowned sympathetically. "I'm sure you'll get him–"

"He is dead," Thorfinn interrupted, "But, I wasn't the one who…"

"Oh…" she trailed off, unsure how to continue.

Frantically searching for a new topic, Thorfinn asked, "Did you ever marry Leif's brother?"

Her face fell then. He cursed internally. _Just bring the mood down more why don't you_, he thought to himself.

"I did, but… I think he's dead." Her expression, while clearly upset, had more confusion and uncertainty than what was obviously applicable.

"You think?"

"He left for Vinland right after our wedding ceremony, he didn't even stay for the wedding night," she said in a neutral tone, "He's not back yet either and that party was long overdue. The longer he's away, the less likely it is he'll be coming back."

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged, still looking conflicted. "I don't want him to be dead, but… I can't say I want to be his wife either."

Confliction. Thorfinn understood that. "Maybe he will come back and ask for a divorce."

Gudrid tried scolding him, even as a smile formed on her face, "You still don't know how to comfort a girl." She broke into giggles. "That's not what you say–"

He couldn't help but chuckle along.

After she calmed down a little, she said more seriously, "Although I would rather he just take me with him."

"You still want to travel?" Thorfinn would've thought her wanderlust would've died down with age. He certainly knew of youth's folly.

"There's nothing in this world I want more," she declared, and he believed her.

"Then I hope you get the opportunity."

"And where are you now?"

Thorfinn frowned and thought a moment. "Denmark, I believe."

"Still a mercenary?"

He couldn't help but smile at the irony of it. "No, I'm a thrall working on a farm."

Her eyes went wide. "You're pulling my leg. Why are you so happy about it?"

"I can't say I'm happy about it, but… it's forced me to change. And I guess I'm happy about that." Without thinking much about it, he asked rather serenely, "So, still wanting to marry me? I remember you saying me being a thrall wasn't a deal breaker."

He expected her to laugh, but was caught off guard by her blushing face. She forced out an awkward snort, and Thorfinn felt his own face heat up. Did that make her uncomfortable? He was so unused to speaking with women. Arnheid was the only woman he spoke to on a regular basis, and most of that was talking about work.

"So!" she said too loudly, "What's the farm like?"

Thankful for yet another change in topics, Thorfinn relayed to her all he could about Ketil's farm. He was worried she might find it boring, but she seemed fascinated by it all. Apparently, Greenland wasn't the best place for farming, the mere concept of a forest being a problem was completely foreign to her.

"So there were so many trees that it's taking you months to cut them all down?"

"Yeah, probably years."

She let out a puff of air. "Wow, that sounds amazing. They say there used to be trees here, but that was a long time ago. I've always…"

"You've always wanted to see them," he finished for her.

"Yeah, I'm probably repeating myself over and over," she mumbled.

"No, no." He waved his hands in front of him. "I'm just happy I'm not boring you. It's good to have dreams I think."

"Do you not?" she asked.

"I'm… I'm trying to figure that out."

Thorfinn felt a violent shaking. "I think it's time to go."

"It was good to speak with you again," she said earnestly.

"Goodbye Gudrid–" Thorfinn woke with a start.

Who was he saying goodbye to?

"Good, you're awake. C'mon, you overslept for once." Einar leaned back and started to get ready, which didn't take much as they both only had one set of clothes to their name. Thorfinn followed his example.

As they walked to their fields to start work, Einar kept sneaking glances at him. Finally he had to ask, "What?"

Einar shook his head. "Nothing."

"I don't have fleas again do I?"

"No, it's really none of my business."

It dawned on Thorfinn. "Was it my dreams? I'm sorry for bothering you, I wish I didn't–"

"It did have to do with your dreams I think, but they weren't bothering me for once… you were just… you kept saying some woman's name. It didn't sound like a nightmare."

"Huh," Thorfinn said, puzzled, "Weird."

"So you don't remember any of it?" Einar asked, "Because I was hearing like half a conversation."

"I thought you said it didn't bother you?"

"It didn't, I did tell you you overslept. You were talking a lot about trees."

"Trees."

"Yes, I thought, at last he has normal dreams, describing trees to a woman."

"Is that what you dream about normally?"

Einar shook his head. "Well, I don't normally dream, but yeah, dreams are supposed to be nonsense."

Thorfinn couldn't help but smile.

"You remember something from it?"

"No, I'm just… I'm becoming normal I think."

Einar clasped him on the shoulder. "For your sake I hope you are."


End file.
